A TEENAGER who had consensual sex with a 16-year-old girl has been given an 11-month suspended prison sentence.
The judge praised the girl’s family who had expressed the wish that he not be sent to jail. The judge was also critical of media coverage of the case.
Jason Higgins, Farran, Mullingar had pleaded guilty in October to the offence under the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act in October.
Addressing Mullingar District Court before Judge John Neilan made his final decision on sentencing, Louis Kiernan said the section of the Act under which his client was prosecuted had been designed “to penalise predatory paedophiles, not love-struck teenagers.”
Higgins had been 19-years-old in August 2008 when he and the girl, who was three months from her seventeenth birthday, had sex at a location in Westmeath.
In her statement which was read at the initial court hearing, the girl stated that Higgins “did not force me at any stage”.
Peter Jones, State solicitor said the victim’s family had expressed a wish that Higgins not be jailed but said they did not want him “next, nigh or near them” and should not make any contact with the girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons.
Mr Kiernan said his client had a difficult upbringing with “a tremendous amount of adversity for someone so young”, spending several years in foster care. He had a borderline IQ and had attended a special secondary school.
Higgins had been “genuinely shocked” to discover that the age of consent was 17, not 16, and Mr Kiernan referred to comments made by a consultant psychiatrist who reported on Higgins, who noted that many of his colleagues would also not be aware of the age limit.
The age gap between Higgins and the victim had been “quite small,” he added.
Suspending for three years the sentence he had put in place when he heard evidence in the case in October, Judge Neilan was extremely critical of media commentary which he said caused hurt to the victim.
He described some of the comments made by commentators as “very salacious and unwise” and said he found some of it “extremely offensive” in its treatment of young people and the issues before the court.
On reading the victim impact statement, he said the victim “now feels more hurt as a consequence of media attention” and that the report showed her innocence.
The incident had repercussions for the girl, who had a “nightmare” visited upon her by Higgins.
He said Higgins had been “aiming for one thing and one thing only, sexual intercourse”, but added that he was not suggesting he was predatory.
He noted how the girl’s parents had looked out for her. Evidence had previously been given of a supervised date at their home.
He commended the family for their generosity in requesting that Higgins not go to jail and put in place an order that he have no contact with the victim at any time, for any reason.
He said he would not direct that Higgins be placed on the sex offenders’ register.